19-Year-Old Strikeout Artist Comes to Round Rock

I got excited about catcher Jason Castro … then he got promoted to Houston. I got giddy about first basemen Brett Wallace … then Berkman got traded and Wallace got promoted. Does this mean I'll refrain from acting like a school girl now that pitcher Jordan Lyles was promoted to Round Rock? Nope, this guy's here to stay for a bit, so let's start the hype machine!

First thing you need to know about Lyles: He's the only player on the Express born in the '90s. The kid was drafted in 2008 straight out of high school at only 17 years old and has been pitching in the Houston Astros farm system ever since.

Second thing: Age means nothing. You'd think that a teenager would have a few speed bumps along the way through the minor league system, just like any player does. Not Lyles. He breezed through the Rookie League in '08, striking out 64 in only 55 innings, dominated A-ball in '09 with 167 strikeouts and only 38 walks in 144.2 innings with a 3.24 ERA, and this year handled AA with a 3.12 ERA and a still-impressive 8.1 K/9 ratio. So yeah, he's done good.

Third Thing: No rush to promote to the majors. While Lyles is showing some amazing stuff with great command in the minors, there's no hurry to get this guy pitching for the Astros. As long as a pitcher's name is not "Strasburg," there's no reason why a team playing under .500 ball should have to promote a young pitcher so quickly. AAA is his last stop before reaching the big leagues, so the Express are going to take their time to polish all of Lyles' mechanics and work on his off-speed pitches (something he's apparently been struggling with) so that this will be his only trip in the AAA system. That's good news for Express fans. While we always lose our best players to the Majors, at least we'll be able to see this guy pitch for at least a year.

Speaking of which, the first time you'll get to see him is on Tuesday, Aug. 10 at the Dell Diamond when the Express take on the Sacramento River Rats. You'll have plenty of chances to see Lyles pitch, but I'd suggest you check him out early and get good seats before he starts getting Strasburg-like attention. (Which is impossible, I know, but still, the guy brings some heat, so go check him out!)